CHICAGO (670 The Score) – On Thursday evening, the final asset of Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas’ first major deal in Chicago had a name and a face put on it.
The Magic used the No. 11 overall pick that they acquired from the Bulls to select Michigan shooting guard Jett Howard in the NBA Draft. The Magic landed that pick, of course, in the trade of center Nikola Vucevic to the Bulls in March 2021. Since then, the deal has been much-criticized in Chicago, where the Bulls have no playoff series wins to show for it and hold a bleak outlook as they come off a 40-42 campaign.
With that in mind, Karnisovas was asked to reflect on the trade that landed Vucevic. He staunchly defended the deal, which also sent center Wendell Carter Jr., forward Otto Porter Jr. and the No. 8 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft to Orlando, with that selection being used on standout young forward Franz Wagner. The Bulls also landed forward Al-Farouq Aminu in the trade, but he appeared in just six games for them and was soon traded.
“It was a beginning where we tried to build here in Chicago,” Karnisovas said at the Advocate Center after the NBA Draft concluded. “I think that transaction, when we brought Vooch here, showed everyone that we’re trying to win. I think once we brought Vooch, we brought in DeMar (DeRozan), we brought in Alex Caruso, we brought (Lonzo Ball) and I think that started trying to improve our team and trying to be competitive. I thought that deal worked out pretty well for us.”
That’s certainly debatable, considering Carter alone has been nearly as productive on a per-game basis in Orlando as Vucevic has been in Chicago, though not nearly as durable. What appears more certain is that the Bulls hope to retain Vucevic as his unrestricted free agency looms.
NBA free agency is set to open the evening of June 30, and the sides are free to reach an extension anytime before then. They’ve had talks, though nothing has come to fruition yet. The sides have been discussing a three-year deal, the Sun-Times previously reported. Vucevic, who will turn 33 in October, made $22 million last season.
“A work in progress,” Karnisovas said of negotiations with Vucevic. “I think we kind of are taking one step at a time – the draft right now. We’re going to continue talking to Vooch and his representation. We have a ton of free agents, a couple of them restricted, (a couple) unrestricted. So we’re going to short term, we’re going to figure it out.”
The Bulls have a lot to figure out, but they may not be as financially constrained as most thought they would be. Karnisovas indicated the Bulls have the green light to enter the luxury tax under if they're "competitive." The luxury tax is expected to be set at $165 million for the 2023-’24 season, and the Bulls will have nearly $120 million committed to eight players if reserve center Andre Drummond picks up his player option, as he has suggested he will. Retaining Vucevic, guard Coby White (restricted free agent) and guard Ayo Dosunmu (restricted free agent) as well as using the mid-level exception would likely push the Bulls to or past the luxury tax line.
“It all depends in free agency, how that goes,” Karnisovas said. “Jerry and Michael (Reinsdorf) have been always open with me to go into the luxury tax if our team is competitive – top four, top six in the East. If there are players in free agency that we can improve our team and we’re competitive, we’ll retain our free agents.”
The Bulls have only paid the luxury tax once in franchise history, and president Michael Reinsdorf had previously indicated the organization needed to be a contender to enter it again.
Cody Westerlund is an editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
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